US Presidential Election 2024 - Trump vs ??? - Vote Hard with a Vengence

[Jarnhamar]

There's not much wrong with teens working summer jobs, or part-time hours in a family business. Not all child labour is 60-hour work weeks in coal pits.

 

[dimsum]

Yeah, it’s hit a nerve, and it has stuck the landing. It has a potent combination of being mild yet damning, and very easy to substantiate with examples because of how not extreme it is. But it also cuts right to the bone against the ‘Everyman’ image many politicians crave. Someone who’s ‘weird’, who is excluded from fitting in, has their work cut out for them in appealing to voters. It’s a nice play by the Dems.

Took this from the CPC thread because it seems more fitting here.

I can’t remember where I read this but one reason why “weird”, of all things, hit a nerve is that the GOP has campaigned for decades (longer?) on them being the rough-and-tumble rural blue-collar workers, the military, 2A supporters, and other “macho” groups. In high school, they would have been the “jocks” as opposed to the artsy/geeky/nerdy folks that the Dems stereotypically court.

Calling folks who saw themselves as the ones who fit in, as @brihard mentioned, the outcasts seems ridiculous but people in general don’t like to be called an outcast. However, if the tables were turned, I don’t think “weird” would be a sticking point to the same extent against Dems because as I said, they were already sort of the outcasts so their response would likely be “…so?”

 

[Remius]

Took this from the CPC thread because it seems more fitting here.

I can’t remember where I read this but one reason why “weird”, of all things, hit a nerve is that the GOP has campaigned for decades (longer?) on them being the rough-and-tumble rural blue-collar workers, the military, 2A supporters, and other “macho” groups. In high school, they would have been the “jocks” as opposed to the artsy/geeky/nerdy folks that the Dems stereotypically court.

Calling folks who saw themselves as the ones who fit in, as @brihard mentioned, the outcasts seems ridiculous but people in general don’t like to be called an outcast. However, if the tables were turned, I don’t think “weird” would be a sticking point to the same extent against Dems because as I said, they were already sort of the outcasts so their response would likely be “…so?”

Or that some of their stuff really is weird and they know it but don’t want it pointed out…

 

[dimsum]

Or that some of their stuff really is weird and they know it but don’t want it pointed out…

Oh absolutely. But, it smacks of high school “I’m a jock - I can’t be ‘weird’” vibes.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

This news broke 2 days ago. i'm surprised it never made it here.

House Oversight Opens Investigation into Tim Walz’s Ties to China

The CCP has sought to destroy the United States through coordinated influence and infiltration campaigns that target every aspect of American life, including our own elected officials,” Comer said in a statement. “FBI briefers recently informed the Committee that the Bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force investigates CCP activity that is similar to China’s engagement with Governor Walz. The American people deserve to fully understand how deep Governor Walz’s relationship with China goes.”

Comer cited reports of “concerning ties” between Walz and the People’s Republic of China, including a trip he organized while he was a teacher at Alliance High School in 1993. That trip was reportedly paid for by the Chinese government, according to the Star-Herald.

House Oversight opens investigation into Tim Walz’s ties to China - Washington Examiner

The FBI was pushed to give access to information related to the Chinese Communist Party’s connected entities as well as any officials who spoke with Tim Walz.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

 

[dimsum]

This news broke 2 days ago. i'm surprised it never made it here.

House Oversight Opens Investigation into Tim Walz’s Ties to China

The CCP has sought to destroy the United States through coordinated influence and infiltration campaigns that target every aspect of American life, including our own elected officials,” Comer said in a statement. “FBI briefers recently informed the Committee that the Bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force investigates CCP activity that is similar to China’s engagement with Governor Walz. The American people deserve to fully understand how deep Governor Walz’s relationship with China goes.”

Comer cited reports of “concerning ties” between Walz and the People’s Republic of China, including a trip he organized while he was a teacher at Alliance High School in 1993. That trip was reportedly paid for by the Chinese government, according to the Star-Herald.

House Oversight opens investigation into Tim Walz’s ties to China - Washington Examiner

The FBI was pushed to give access to information related to the Chinese Communist Party’s connected entities as well as any officials who spoke with Tim Walz.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

Interestingly, Walz did have a connection with China in his political life, but as a critic for its human rights issues. Not really something someone would publicly do if they were a CCP sympathizer.

Later, when Walz came to Washington as a Minnesota congressman, he became a champion for China’s human rights and served on a congressional committee that tracks the issue. He called a lunch with the Dalai Lama “life-changing.”

He also posed for photos with Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, who testified before Congress in 2019 when the territory was engulfed in monthslong protests over an unpopular proposal to allow suspects to be extradited to China for trial that raised concerns about Hong Kong’s autonomy. Beijing sees the Tibetan spiritual leader and Wong as threats to its rule and disapproved of U.S. politicians meeting them.

Walz's China experience draws GOP attacks, but Beijing isn't counting on better ties

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has a history with China. And Republicans are seizing on it. The Democratic vice presidential nominee taught in China for a year, went back with exchange students and served on a congressional committee about China's human rights.

apnews.com

Also, he taught in China in 1989-1990, right around the time it opened up to the world. His honeymoon was in 1994. He didn’t enter political life until 2004. So either China is amazing at picking future VPs, or it was a case that a teacher decided to teach in a country that (at the time) was looked at with a friendly lens by the West.

 

[Remius]

This news broke 2 days ago. i'm surprised it never made it here.

I’m surprised it took you that long to post it here.

House Oversight Opens Investigation into Tim Walz’s Ties to China

The CCP has sought to destroy the United States through coordinated influence and infiltration campaigns that target every aspect of American life, including our own elected officials,” Comer said in a statement. “FBI briefers recently informed the Committee that the Bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force investigates CCP activity that is similar to China’s engagement with Governor Walz. The American people deserve to fully understand how deep Governor Walz’s relationship with China goes.”

Comer cited reports of “concerning ties” between Walz and the People’s Republic of China, including a trip he organized while he was a teacher at Alliance High School in 1993. That trip was reportedly paid for by the Chinese government, according to the Star-Herald.

House Oversight opens investigation into Tim Walz’s ties to China - Washington Examiner

The FBI was pushed to give access to information related to the Chinese Communist Party’s connected entities as well as any officials who spoke with Tim Walz.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

That would be the same committee that Lauren Boebart and Marjorie Taylor Greene sit on? Not surprised.

A school trip in 1993? Would that be odd for that time?

The GOP will do what the GOP does. So far he’s been attacked on his service, his previous DUI charge, his soft on riots stance and now this. Nothing seems to have stuck so far and some of it has backfired. I’m sure with the likes of Boebart and Greene on the trail that it can’t get any “weirder”.

I can’t even tell if they actually have anything other than “looking”.

 

[brihard]

Interestingly, Walz did have a connection with China in his political life, but as a critic for its human rights issues. Not really something someone would publicly do if they were a CCP sympathizer.

Walz's China experience draws GOP attacks, but Beijing isn't counting on better ties

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has a history with China. And Republicans are seizing on it. The Democratic vice presidential nominee taught in China for a year, went back with exchange students and served on a congressional committee about China's human rights.

apnews.com

Also, he taught in China in 1989-1990, right around the time it opened up to the world. His honeymoon was in 1994. He didn’t enter political life until 2004. So either China is amazing at picking future VPs, or it was a case that a teacher decided to teach in a country that (at the time) was looked at with a friendly lens by the West.

I’m surprised it took you that long to post it here.


That would be the same committee that Lauren Boebart and Marjorie Taylor Greene sit on? Not surprised.

A school trip in 1993? Would that be odd for that time?

The GOP will do what the GOP does. So far he’s been attacked on his service, his previous DUI charge, his soft on riots stance and now this. Nothing seems to have stuck so far and some of it has backfired. I’m sure with the likes of Boebart and Greene on the trail that it can’t get any “weirder”.

I can’t even tell if they actually have anything other than “looking”.

Mm hm. By all means let the House committee look. I expect the Democrats were well aware of this from their vetting and have no concerns.

Given Trump’s recent holding of bank accounts in China, there’s only so far the GOP can risk pushing dated and minor connections to China without it potentially leading to embarrassment. They’re gonna need better than some trips there to teach school in the 1990s.

 

[Lumber]

I’m surprised it took you that long to post it here.


That would be the same committee that Lauren Boebart and Marjorie Taylor Greene sit on? Not surprised.

A school trip in 1993? Would that be odd for that time?

The GOP will do what the GOP does. So far he’s been attacked on his service, his previous DUI charge, his soft on riots stance and now this. Nothing seems to have stuck so far and some of it has backfired. I’m sure with the likes of Boebart and Greene on the trail that it can’t get any “weirder”.

I can’t even tell if they actually have anything other than “looking”.

Hey woa woa woa! You're not implying that Presidential Medal Of Freedom recipient Jim Jordan would waste government resources on a frivolous witch hunt in the service of his previous cult leader? Are you?

 

[Pelorus]

Given Trump’s recent holding of bank accounts in China, there’s only so far the GOP can risk pushing dated and minor connections to China without it potentially leading to embarrassment. They’re gonna need better than some trips there to teach school in the 1990s.

The problem with the GOP is that there's no penalty for hypocrisy in MAGA-land. They've gone all in on one of the most flawed men in modern history, and there's no way to reconcile that with any sort of ideological consistency.

Trump's financial entanglement with China and fast-tracking patents to his daughter after being elected isn't going to slow them down, because being a hypocrite is a requirement to be MAGA in 2024.